African American History Month.
In 1926 Dr. Carter Woodson instituted a week-long
celebration of the contributions of African Americans to history. Dr. Woodson
chose the week of Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12). In recent years
the observance has expanded, and now the entire month of February is celebrated
as African American History Month. Because of the variation in terms used,
this month is also known as Afro-American History or Black History and Black
Experience Month. Each year, the Association for the Study of African American
Life and History, founded by Dr. Woodson in 1915, sets the theme for the
month. For information about the theme for this February, contact the association
at 202-865-0053 or visit its web site at
www.asalh.org.
February 1, Monday
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) : African American.
Writer. Hughes emerged as a leader of
the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and became the most influential African
American writer of his time. His poetry, which drew on the traditional Black
art forms of spirituals, blues, and jazz, won an especially wide audience,
but Hughes also distinguished himself as a writer of fiction, drama, essays,
and history.
Thomas Lantos (born Lantos Tamás Péter) (1928–2008)
: Jewish American. Politician and
statesman. The only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the U.S. Congress,
Lantos was born in Budapest, Hungary, and joined the resistance against
the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary in World War II. Placed
in a Hungarian forced labor camp when he was a teenager, Lantos escaped
to a safe house set up by the Swede Raoul Wallenberg. In 1947 he immigrated
to the United States on an academic scholarship and attended the University
of Washington and the University of California at Berkeley. From 1981 until
his death he served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat representing
California’s 12th District, becoming chairman of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs in 2007. Initially a strong supporter of the Iraq War, Lantos
became increasingly critical of the administration’s conduct of the war.
Throughout his career Lantos championed human rights issues worldwide, advocating
for religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, supporting Tibetans’ right to cultural
and religious freedom, and protesting against the Sudanese genocide in Darfur.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 2, Tuesday
Groundhog Day : United States.
Candlemas : Christian.
This religious holiday originated with the ancient
Jewish custom that required mothers to present their first male child in
the temple. As a Jewish mother, Mary would have presented Jesus on February
2. The day is associated with light and purification. The holiday takes
its name from the custom of blessing the church's supply of candles for
the year on this date.
Imbolc : Pagan and Wiccan.
Imbolc, which like all Pagan and Wiccan holidays
begins at sundown on the day before, is a celebration of fire and light
and the return of life. It is also the holy day of St. Brigid, the Goddess
of fire, healing, and fertility. Wicca is the common term for many different
traditions of Neo-Pagan nature religions that celebrate seasonal and life
cycles and revere a Goddess and a God. Most Wiccans celebrate eight Sabbats,
or days of power, that comprise the Wheel of the Year: Samhain (the Wiccan
New Year), Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltaine, Litha, Lughnasadh and Mabon.
Wiccans also celebrate thirteen Esbats, or ritual observances of the full
moon, every year. Pagan and Wiccan traditions have a long history preceding
that of any of the major Western religions. Originating as agricultural
festivals going back for thousands of years, many Sabbat practices were
incorporated into Roman, Greek, and other traditions and also found their
way into subsequent Western religions. Pagans and Wiccans are not anti-Christ
or in opposition to any religion. Their beliefs and practices focus on the
earth's seasons and the natural cycles of the world. They stress reverence
for nature and belief in ecological principles. As such, Pagans and Wiccans
are largely pacifist in nature. Their only “rule” is to “harm none.” Pagans
and Wiccans believe that the divine is in everything, and that there are
multiple deities and many different pathways to the divine. They also believe
in reincarnation. The circle with five points, the “Pentacle,” is the most
common symbol used in Wicca. Its five points symbolize Air, Fire, Water,
Earth, and Spirit, in the circle of eternity. Countries with large Wiccan
populations include the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia,
Germany, and Holland.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 3, Wednesday
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) : Lesbian.
Author. An avant-garde American writer
whose Paris home became a salon for the leading artists and writers of the
period between World Wars I and II, Gertrude Stein attended Radcliffe College,
studying psychology with the philosopher William James. After further study
at Johns Hopkins medical school, she went to Paris where she lived with
her lifelong companion, Alice B. Toklas. Stein was among the first collectors
of works by the Cubists and other experimental painters of the period, such
as Pablo Picasso (who painted her portrait), Henri Matisse, and Georges
Braque. These painters were introduced to expatriate American writers, such
as Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway, and other visitors drawn by her
literary reputation. Her first published book, Three Lives (1909),
the stories of three working-class women, has been called a minor masterpiece.
Her only book to reach a wide public was The Autobiography of Alice B.
Toklas (1933), actually Stein's own autobiography. The performance in
the United States of her Four Saints in Three Acts (1934), which
the composer Virgil Thomson had made into an opera, led to a triumphal American
lecture tour in 1934–35.
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Bean Scattering Festival (Setsubun)
: Japan. |
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 4, Thursday
Betty Friedan (born Bettye Naomi Goldstein)
(1921–2006) : Jewish American.
Feminist, activist, and writer. A pioneer in the modern feminist movement,
Betty Friedan ushered in the "Second Wave" of feminism with the publication
in 1963 of her book, The Feminine Mystique, one of the most influential
books of the twentieth century. She chronicled the growing dissatisfaction
of women as homemakers in postwar suburban America, identifying their discontent
as "the problem that has no name." Friedan's work was one of the forces
leading to the women's liberation movement of the late 1960s, a social upheaval
reminiscent of the earlier turn-of-the-century campaigns for women's suffrage.
A summa cum laude graduate of Smith College, Friedan was one of the
founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, and served
as its first president until 1970. In 1969 she was a founder of the National
Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), and in 1971 Friedan,
along with Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and others, founded
the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) to increase women's participation
in the political process.
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Arbaeen : Islamic. |
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 5, Friday
Constitution Day : Mexico.
On this day in 1917 Mexico adopted its first constitution.
(See entry for November 20.)
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 6, Saturday
Bob Marley (1945–1981) : Jamaican.
Musician. Marley was the most influential
star of reggae, a Jamaican form of popular music that draws on Afro-Caribbean
dance and American soul music and was one of the first musical idioms from
the Third World to become popular in Europe and the United States. Reggae
is associated with Rastafarianism, a faith founded by Marcus Garvey, whose
adherents see the late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as a divine figure
and themselves as Black Hebrews exiled in the Babylon of western colonial
capitalism. Marley's intense, compelling presence and the stirring messages
of his songs brought him the acclaim of international audiences and influenced
singers and songwriters throughout the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Africa.
(See entry for Birthday of Haile Selassie.)
Sending Off the Kitchen God Day (2/6-7) : China.
This two-day festival is associated with
the New Year. In traditional Chinese homes, a paper image represents a home
deity that is thought to keep track of the deeds of the household for the
year. On this day, the family burns the image, whose spirit is believed
to go to heaven and report to the chief deity on the family's behavior during
the past year. The chief deity then determines the fate of the family for
the next year. To positively affect the report of the Kitchen God, the family
may put honey or sticky candy over its mouth—some say, to make sure that
it reports only sweet things; others say, so that it will not be able to
speak at all. (m)
Waitangi Day : New Zealand.
This commemorates the signing of the Treaty
of Waitangi in 1840 between the indigenous Maoris of New Zealand and the
European colonists, providing for British sovereignty in exchange for guaranteed
possession by the Maoris of their lands.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 8, Monday
Great Lent begins : Coptic Orthodox Christian.
Also known as the Great Fast, this begins
the Lenten season for the Coptic Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian
calendar. It begins with a one-week preparatory fast, followed by a 40-day
fast commemorating Christ’s fasting on the mountain. The fast of Great Lent,
which includes Sundays, officially ends on the Saturday before Holy Week,
known as Lazarus Saturday, although fasting continues during Holy Week (Pascha).
During this time, no animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, milk,
eggs, or butter, are allowed. Moreover, no food or drink may be taken between
sunrise and sunset.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing the fast for this period. (m)
Constitution Day : Philippines.
This holiday commemorates the adoption of
the Constitution of the Philippines in 1935.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 9, Tuesday
St. Maroon's Day : Lebanon.
Public holiday.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 11, Thursday
|
National Foundation Day (Kenkoku Kinen
Bi) : Japan. |
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 12, Friday
Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Kosciuszko (1746–1817) :
Polish. Soldier and statesman.
As a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Kosciuszko
planned the fortifications that helped defeat the British at the battle
of Saratoga. For his service to the cause of American independence, Congress
awarded him American citizenship. After returning to Poland in 1784 and
becoming a major general in the Polish army in 1789, Kosciuszko emerged
as a military and political leader, pressing for democratic reforms in Polish
government and society and leading Polish forces against Russian armies
sent to suppress the Polish movement for independence in 1791 and again
in 1794. After his final defeat in 1794, he spent the rest of his life in
exile.
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Maha Shivaratri (Shiva's Night) : Hindu.
|
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Fasting is part of celebrating this holiday. Check before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal. Before arranging any event involving food, check to see if invitees are following a special Maha Shivaratri diet. (m)
Lincoln’s Birthday : United States.
This day commemorates the birth of Abraham
Lincoln (1809–1865), one of the greatest presidents of the United States,
who changed the course of history by preserving the American Union during
the Civil War, thereby preserving American democracy. In the process of
saving the Union, Lincoln issued the historic Emancipation
Proclamation, which paved the way for the Thirteenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution ending slavery in the United States. Lincoln’s eloquence
and conviction are reflected in such historic speeches as the Gettysburg
Address, given at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania during
the Civil War, when he declared that "this nation, under God, shall have
a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth." On this day, wreath-laying
ceremonies are held at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic
Site in Hodgenville, Kentucky, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.,
and at Lincoln's tomb in Springfield, Illinois. (See entry for
Washington's Birthday.)
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 14, Sunday
Richard Allen (1760–1831) : African American.
Minister. In 1787 Allen founded the African
Methodist Episcopal Church to give African Americans the opportunity to
worship in a setting free of racial discrimination. His Bethel Church in
Philadelphia became a focal point of organized protest by African Americans
against slavery and racial discrimination in the North.
Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) : African American.
Writer, lecturer, editor, and abolitionist.
Born a slave, Frederick Augustus Bailey escaped at the age of 21, changed
his name, and became a renowned campaigner for the abolition of slavery.
After publishing his autobiography in 1845, Douglass made a lecture tour
of England, where friends raised money to buy his freedom. Upon his return
he founded a newspaper, the North Star. During the Civil War Douglass
urged President Lincoln to free the slaves and arm African Americans. After
the war Douglass held a variety of federal offices, including that of Minister
to Haiti.
Willem Johan Kolff (1911-2009) : Dutch American.
Doctor, inventor. Willem Kolff, known
as the Father of Artificial Organs, invented the artificial kidney, or dialysis
machine, and helped develop the artificial heart. He began developing the
artificial kidney in Holland in 1939 during the Nazi occupation and saved
his first patient in 1945. In 1950 Kolff came to the United States and became
head of the artificial organs department at the Cleveland Clinic, where
he helped develop the heart-lung machine for use during heart surgery. In
1967 he went to the University of Utah, where he became head of the newly
formed Institute for Biomedical Engineering and worked on developing the
Jarvik 7 artificial heart.
Masao Satow (1908–1977) : Japanese American.
Civic leader. Born in California to Japanese
American parents, Satow joined the Japanese American Citizens League, an
emerging national organization for persons of Japanese ancestry born in
the United States, in 1932. He became its national secretary in 1947, when
the organization had only two chapters, both on the West Coast, and 3,100
members. At the end of his twenty-five years of leadership, the organization
had 94 chapters across the nation and 27,000 members.
Valentine's Day : United States.
The origins of this day are confused. There
appear to have been two or three early Christian martyrs named Valentine.
One was probably executed on February 14. One man named Valentine secretly
married young sweethearts in opposition to the Roman Emperor Claudius' ban
on marriage (a policy designed to prevent young men of military age from
forming family ties). Another legend mentions flowers grown by Valentine
and given to children. When Valentine was imprisoned the children remembered
him by throwing nosegays and notes into his prison window. These were the
original Valentine greetings.
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New Year (Gao Nian) : China.
|
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: An appropriate greeting is "Happy New Year." In Chinese, the greeting is Gungshi Shin Nien (Mandarin pronunciation), Gung Hay Fat Choy (Cantonese pronunciation). (m)
New Year (Losar) : Tibet.
This begins the Tibetan lunar year 2137 (The Year
of the Iron-Tiger) based on the Han solar-lunar calendar. The date of the
new year sometimes corresponds to that of the Chinese new year, but at other
times can be as much as a month or more later. The exact date of the new
year is uncertain given the difficulty of calculation and the dependence
on the time zone. This is a day of celebration that links all people in
the Tibetan diaspora, resulting from the decision of many Tibetans, led
by the Dalai Lama in 1959, to flee the Communist Chinese. The last two days
of the old year, called Gutor, are spent in preparation for the new
year. On the first day, every household hangs colorful new prayer flags,
while houses are whitewashed and thoroughly cleaned, especially the kitchen.
A special dumpling soup called guthuk, or "ninth soup," is made from
nine different ingredients—sweet potato, rice, radishes, cheese, meat, wheat,
peas, green peppers, and noodles. On the second day of Gutor, Tibetans
go to monasteries to make offerings. They decorate family altars with candies,
fruits, and khabsa, homemade deep-fried dough twists. On New Year's
Eve, the family eats the "ninth soup"—everyone must eat nine bowls. The
soup is served with dumplings containing various surprises hidden inside,
such as salt, chilies, wool, and coal, each of which has a special meaning
and gives one's fortune for the new year. For example, salt signifies a
virtuous year ahead, while chilies indicate that an angry, argumentative
year is in store.
Then the ceremony of Lu Yugpa is held to banish evil spirits from the old year. At dawn on New Year's Day, Tibetans make offerings at the family shrine. Family members each receive a pinch of freshly made butter placed on their forehead, a plate of khabsa twists, and a cup of Tibetan butter tea thick enough to float a coin. They visit monasteries to pay homage to the Buddha and to make offerings of food and gifts to the monks and nuns, who burn fragrant juniper and cedar branches as incense offerings to the heavens. Then people celebrate with friends and family by feasting on rich holiday foods, drinking chang, homemade barley beer, and singing and dancing around huge bonfires at night. New Year's is the major celebration of the Tibetan calendar and revelries may continue for up to two weeks. Some devotees journey to the Johkang Temple in Lhasa to donate yak butter to keep the temple lamps burning. At Barkor Plaza, sculptures of Buddhist deities made by the monks out of yak butter and roasted barley flour are on display, prior to their unveiling at the Butter Sculpture Festival, held on the day of the first full moon of the lunar year.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: The traditional New Year's greetings are "Happy Losar" and Tashi Delek. (m)
New Year (Sol) : South Korea.
This begins the traditional Korean New Year
4343 of the era of Tan'gun, the mythical progenitor of the Korean people.
The New Year's celebration is, along with Chusok, one of the two most important
holidays in Korea. Officially a three-day holiday, it is traditionally celebrated
for fifteen days until Taeborum. This is a time when families renew their
ties and prepare for the year ahead. The day before New Year's is spent
cleaning house and preparing special foods for the next day, such as fried
meats, fish, dumplings, and ttokkuk, a rice-cake soup. Bamboo sticks
are burned to cast off house demons. Early on New Year's morning, family
members bathe and don hanbok, the traditional formal dress. They
gather at the home of the eldest male family member for the chare,
or offering to ancestors, in which the foods prepared the day before are
arranged on a table altar and a ceremony to honor their ancestors is held.
Then the younger generation offers New Year's greetings to their elders
in a custom called sebae. The elders in turn give the children cakes,
fruit, or money. Everyone then sits down to a family breakfast with the
foods from the offering table. It is believed that eating the New Year's
rice-cake soup, ttokkuk, makes a person one year older. All Koreans
count themselves one year older on New Year's Day. Popular drinks include
shikhye, rice punch, and sujunggwa, a concoction of persimmon
and cinnamon. Favorite New Year's pastimes are kite-flying and top-spinning
for boys, and see-sawing for girls, but the most popular entertainment is
a New Year's game called yut nore, which involves throwing four sticks
and advancing one's player on the board according to how the sticks land.
Yut nore is played from New Year's Day until
Taeborum.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: The New Year's
greeting is Say-hay boke mahn-he pah-du-say-oh, which means "Many
New Year's blessings to you." (m)
New Year (Tet Nguyen Dan) : Vietnam.
This is the most important holiday in
Vietnam and begins the Vietnamese lunar year 4708 (The Year of the Tiger).
Officially a three-day holiday, it is often celebrated for seven or more
days. The days before the new year are spent cleaning and painting homes,
paying off debts, resolving differences between family and friends, and
preparing three days' worth of special foods for the celebration. On the
afternoon of New Year's Eve, the head of the family performs a ceremony
to welcome back ancestors for the New Year's celebrations. Midnight on New
Year's Eve, known as Giao Thua, is the most sacred time since it
is the passage from the old year to the new. A special ceremony called
Le Tru Tich is held, with drums, gongs, and firecrackers ushering
out the spirits of the old year and welcoming the new. This ceremony also
welcomes back the Kitchen God, who went to heaven to report on the household's
behavior during the past year. On New Year's Day, people dress in their
best clothes and visit a temple or pagoda to pray for good fortune and good
health. The first visitor to a family's home on New Year's Day is very important,
since he will influence the well-being of the family for the coming year.
Apricot and peach blossoms in the home ensure longevity and ward off demons—
it is especially auspicious if they bloom on the first morning of the new
year. All Vietnamese become one year older on New Year's Day. Adults congratulate
children on becoming a year older by giving them red envelopes containing
money for good luck. A special New Year's treat is banh chung, or
"earth cake," a square cake made of a mixture of glutinous rice, pork, and
bean paste wrapped in banana leaves and boiled, all of the ingredients of
which are believed to keep the positive and the negative in harmony.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: An appropriate
greeting is Chuc Mung Nam Moi, or "Happy New Year." (m)
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 15, Monday
Susan B[rownell] Anthony (1820–1906) : Suffragist,
United States. Quaker, teacher,
abolitionist, and women's rights activist. Born in Adams, Massachusetts,
Anthony was a leader of the movement to gain women the right to vote. As
a leader of the Women's Temperance Movement along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
she secured the first laws in New York State giving women control over their
children, property, and wages.
Bun Day (Shrove Monday) : Iceland.
Icelanders celebrate the Monday before Lent
by feasting on cream buns. These delicacies are filled with jam and whipped
cream, and often iced with melted chocolate. On Bun Day, children wake up
early and try to catch their parents still in bed. If they do, they "strike"
their parents with colorful handmade "bun wands," or bolludagsvöndur,
which are decorated with strips of paper and gleaming ribbon. Parents must
then give their children one cream bun for every "blow" received. This custom
is thought to have derived from the acts of penance performed during Lent,
evolving over time into a lighthearted children's game. Bolla, which
means "bun," also refers to other round foods eaten on this day, such as
meatballs or fishballs (fiskibollur). (m)
Beginning of Great Lent : Eastern Orthodox Christian.
Also known as Clean Monday in Greece
and Green Monday in Cyprus, this begins the Lenten season based on the Julian
calendar followed by Eastern Orthodox Christians. Eastern Orthodox Lent,
known as Great Lent, includes Sundays and officially ends on Lazarus Saturday,
the day before Palm Sunday, although fasting continues during Holy Week.
While many people no longer fast for forty days, most people observe the
fast strictly for the two weeks preceding Easter. In Greece, a carnival
season called apokria precedes the start of Lent. Apokria begins
with a feast of roast kid or lamb, followed by two weeks of festivities
including parades of masked figures. The third week begins with Tyrini—Cheese
Sunday—when cheese, a food forbidden during Lent, is eaten in pies. The
following day is Clean Monday, and is a national holiday when many children
appear in their Carnival costumes. The pastime of the day is flying special
hexagonal kites decorated with geometric designs. Traditionally, all animal
foods including fish are forbidden during Lent and some people also eschew
oil. Vegetables and legumes are therefore the main Lenten foods of Greece,
with a little shellfish—permitted because, unlike fin fish, it lacks blood.
This day is a national holiday in Greece and Cyprus.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting
someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing
a special diet for this period. (m)
Nirvana (Buddha's Death) : Buddhist.
In the Mahăyăna Buddhist tradition, this
day marks the death of Buddha in 483 B.C.E. and commemorates his attainment
of final Nirvana. The date is based on the Japanese Buddhist calendar.
Shrove Monday : Christian.
Christians in some countries customarily make treats
to use up butter and eggs before the 40-day fast of Lent. (m)
Liberation Day : Afghanistan.
Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) : United
States. The birthday of George
Washington (1732–1799), hero of the Revolutionary War, president of the
Constitutional Convention, and first president of the United States of America,
is observed on this day. Celebrated for the first time in the late eighteenth
century when George Washington was still president, Washington’s Birthday
became an official federal holiday in 1885. The Uniform Holidays Bill of
1968, which took effect in 1971, moved the holiday from February 22 to the
third Monday in February. As a number of states also celebrated the February
12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, some legislators advocated combining the
two holidays into a single holiday called Presidents’ Day. That proposal
was rejected by Congress and the official name of the holiday remained Washington’s
Birthday. However, since state governments are not obliged to adopt federal
holidays and can determine their own legal holidays, some states, such as
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, renamed their state holiday "Presidents'
Day," while other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, and Missouri,
chose to observe two separate holidays to commemorate the birthdays of George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln. (See entry for Lincoln’s
Birthday.) (m)
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 16, Tuesday
Bursting Day (Shrove Tuesday) : Iceland.
Traditionally the last day that people
could eat meat before Lent, this is a day when Icelanders celebrate by eating
saltkjöt og baunir, or salted meat and split pea soup, to the point
of bursting. (m)
Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) : Christian.
Shrove Tuesday marks the final midwinter
fling before Lent begins. (m)
Independence Day : Lithuania.
In 1918 Lithuania declared its independence
from Russia. However, in the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union
absorbed Lithuania into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and it
was not until August 19, 1991 that Lithuania regained its independence.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 17, Wednesday
Marian Anderson (1902–1993) : African American.
Singer. Gifted with a rich contralto
that the conductor Arturo Toscanini called "the kind of voice heard once
in a hundred years," Marian Anderson rose from modest beginnings in Philadelphia
to become an internationally acclaimed concert artist, renowned for her
interpretations of the classical repertoire and of African American spirituals.
During her 1933 Scandinavian concert tour, Anderson was encouraged by her
accompanist Kosti Vehanen, a Finnish pianist, to learn some songs by the
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and perform for him at his home. Sibelius
was so impressed by Anderson that he wrote an original composition for her.
In 1939, Anderson was barred from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington,
D.C., by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) because of her race,
whereupon First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest.
The federal government invited Anderson to sing instead at a public recital
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939,
Marian Anderson gave her now-historic recital before a crowd of more than
75,000 people, the largest to date ever assembled at the Memorial. In 1955,
thirty years after beginning her concert career, she became the first African
American to sing a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Widely admired for her humane spirit, she served on the United States delegation
to the United Nations General Assembly in 1958 and won the United Nations
peace prize in 1977.
Goyaale (Geronimo) (1829–1909) : American Indian
(Chiricahua Apache). Military leader.
As chief of the Chiricahua Apache Indians, Geronimo escaped repeatedly from
reservations and led attacks on settlers and soldiers in northern Mexico
and the southwestern United States during the late 1870s and early 1880s.
He surrendered to U.S. government forces in 1885. This is the anniversary
of his death.
Randy Shilts (1952–1994) : Gay.
Author and journalist. The national correspondent
for the San Francisco Chronicle, Shilts was one of the first openly
gay journalists hired at a major newspaper. Shilts' best-selling books include
The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1982),
And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic (1987),
and Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military (1993).
And the Band Played On was made into a docudrama that was broadcast
on HBO on September 11, 1993. Band has been translated into seven
languages and released in 16 nations. Conduct Unbecoming won numerous
awards, earning Shilts the designation of Author of the Year in 1988 from
the American Society of Journalists and Authors. This is the date of his
death from AIDS.
Declaration of Independence : Republic of Kosovo.
Ash Wednesday (beginning of Lent) : Christian.
This marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day
period of prayer and fasting preceding Easter Sunday (February 17 to April
3, excluding Sundays). It is observed in memory of Jesus' 40 days of fasting
in the desert. In the early centuries of Christianity, there were strict
requirements for fasting during the period of preparation for Easter. Although
these rules have been relaxed in the Western church, many Roman Catholics
and Protestants choose to give up a favorite food or activity during Lent.
There are many symbolic meanings to the use of ashes on this holiday. Generally,
ashes symbolize death. The priest or minister's placing of ashes on one's
forehead in the shape of a cross is part of the preparation for fasting
and resistance to temptation by those observing Lent that ends in the symbolic
renewal of life on Easter. The word Lent comes from Middle English
lenten or lente, from the Old English lencten or
lengten, meaning spring—the time of year when the days begin to lengthen.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting
someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing
a special diet for this period. (m)
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 18, Thursday
Sholom Aleichem (born Solomon Rabinowitz) (1854–1916)
: Jewish Russian American. Writer.
Born in Ukraine, Rabinowitz began writing in Yiddish in 1883, using as his
pseudonym the Yiddish greeting "Peace be upon you." His best known works
are his stories of Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Europe. Along
with I. Peretz and Mendele Sforim, he is considered one of the founders
of modern Yiddish literature.
J. Max Bond Jr. (1935-2009) : African American.
Architect, educator. Bond was a prominent
and socially conscious architect and educator. His architectural projects
include the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in
Atlanta, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, and
the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama. Bond served on the New
York City Planning Commission from 1980 to 1986. He was also a professor
of architecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and
later became dean of the School of Architecture and Environmental Studies
at City College. At the time of his death, Bond was working on the design
of the museum portion of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at
the former site of the World Trade Center. This is the date of his death.
Audre Geraldin Lorde (1934–1992) : Lesbian.
Poet and essayist. Audre Lorde was a
Black lesbian who fought for justice through both her writings and her political
activities. She held a number of teaching positions and toured internationally
as a lecturer, forming coalitions between Afro-German and Afro-Dutch women,
founding a sisterhood in South Africa, starting the Women of Color Press,
and establishing the St. Croix Women's Coalition. Her poetry collections
include From a Land Where Other People Live (1973), The Black
Unicorn (1978), Our Dead Behind Us (1986), and The Marvelous
Arithmetics of Distance (1993). She won the American Book Award in 1989
for A Burst of Light and was appointed New York State's Poet Laureate
by then Governor Mario Cuomo in 1991. Lorde chronicled her 14-year battle
against breast cancer in works such as The Cancer Journals, before
finally succumbing to the disease in 1992.
Luis Muńoz Marín : Puerto Rican.
Political leader. Elected Puerto Rico's first
governor in 1948, Muńoz Marín served in that office until 1964, instituting
programs of economic development and social reform. He also proposed a plan
for maintaining Puerto Rico's union with the United States while establishing
the island as a self-governing unit exempt from U.S. taxes. This proposal
became the basis for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, created by an act
of Congress and proclaimed in 1952.
National Democracy Day : Nepal.
This public holiday commemorates the people’s
revolution of 1950–51 resulting in the termination of Nepal’s 104-year hereditary
Rana regime on February 18, 1951 and the adoption of a constitution in 1952.
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February 21, Sunday
Barbara Jordan (1936–1996) : African American.
Lawyer, politician, teacher. Born in
Houston, Texas, Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern
University and Boston University Law School. In 1966, she was the first
Black woman to be elected to the Texas State Senate. She later became the
first woman and first African American elected to Congress from Texas.
International Mother Language Day : United Nations.
This day was proclaimed by UNESCO on
November 17, 1999 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and to celebrate
the nearly six thousand languages spoken in the world today. It is observed
on February 21 in international recognition of Language Martyrs’ Day in
Bangladesh. (See following entry for Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Dibash).)
Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Dibash) : Bangladesh.
Also known as Language Martyrs’ Day or
National Mourning Day, this commemorates the lives sacrificed in the effort
to make Bengali (or Bangla) one of the national languages when Bangladesh
was part of Pakistan. At the time, the West Pakistani regime was trying
to force Urdu as the national language. On this day in 1952 a procession
by Bengalis in Dhaka was shot at by police, resulting in the death of four
martyrs. The nascent Bengali nationalism ultimately led to the creation
of the nation of Bangladesh. This day was declared International Mother
Language Day by Bangladesh and UNESCO on November 17, 1999.
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February 22, Monday
Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) (1876–1938) : American
Indian (Sioux). Writer and activist.
Born in South Dakota to a full-blooded Sioux mother and a White father,
Zitkala-Sa became an eloquent writer of essays and memoirs and a leader
in the movement to advance the civic, educational, and economic opportunities
of American Indians while recognizing and preserving American Indian cultures.
As secretary of the Society of American Indians and then president of the
National Council of American Indians, she lectured, wrote, and lobbied on
behalf of Indian legislation, and was instrumental in the passage of the
Indian Citizenship Bill of 1924. (See entry for June
2.)
People Power Day (2/22-2/25) : Philippines.
This commemorates the overthrow of Ferdinand
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines as a dictatorship from 1972 to 1986, by
the democracy movement. This holiday is commonly celebrated from February
22 to February 25. It was on February 25 that Ferdinand Marcos left the
Philippines and Corazon Aquino was recognized by the United States as president.
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February 23, Tuesday
W[illiam] E[dward] B[urkhardt] Du Bois (1868–1963)
: African American. Writer and
civil rights activist. Scholar, writer, and editor, Du Bois was the most
important leader of the effort to secure basic civil and human rights for
African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. Trained in
sociology, history, and philosophy, he wrote a number of scholarly works
about the social conditions of Blacks in America. The most famous of these,
The Souls of Black Folk, was especially influential; it attacked
Booker T. Washington's strategy of accommodation and urged a more activist
approach to improving the conditions of Black Americans. Du Bois founded
the Niagara Movement, an organization of Black intellectuals working for
civil rights, in 1905, and in 1909 helped to found the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People. He edited the NAACP magazine The
Crisis until 1934, when he resigned to devote his time to teaching and
writing.
One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
—W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
Casimir Funk (1884–1967) : Jewish Polish American.
Scientist. Funk discovered vitamins as
well as making contributions to understanding sex hormones, hormone-vitamin
balance, and cancer treatment. His work stimulated public interest in diseases
caused by vitamin deficiencies.
Quanah Parker (1850?–1911) : American Indian
(Comanche). Comanche chief and
Indian rights activist. Quanah was the last chief of the Quahadi band of
the Comanche, or Numunuu, tribe of Plains Indians. He was the son of Comanche
Chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, a White woman who had been taken
captive as a young girl during the 1836 raid on Parker’s Fort, Texas. Quanah
refused to sign the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, which confined the southern
Plains Indians to a reservation and permitted railroads to be built through
their lands. However, in 1875, threatened with extermination by Army Colonel
Ranald Mackenzie, Quanah and his band—the last free band of Comanche—finally
surrendered and moved to the Fort Sill reservation in Oklahoma Territory.
The U.S. government appointed him chief of all the Comanche on the reservation,
where he became a reservation judge on the Court of Indian Affairs and adopted
his mother’s surname, being known thereafter as Quanah Parker. In 1892,
the government negotiated the Jerome Agreement with the Kiowa, Comanche,
and Apache tribes, which allotted 160 acres of land to each man, woman,
and child on the reservation and forced them to sell all but a half million
acres of land to the government for $1.25 per acre. Parker lobbied Congress
in Washington, D.C., pleading the cause of the Comanche Nation. He persuaded
President Theodore Roosevelt to include land rights for Native American
children born after the Jerome Agreement and to provide $500,000 that had
been promised by the government in earlier treaties. In 1906, after additional
reservation land had been allotted to Native children, the rest of the reservation
was opened to White settlement, ending the era of the Comanche reservation.
Through his efforts on behalf of American Indians, Quanah Parker helped
sow the seeds of the Indian-rights movement that would emerge in the late
1960s and early 1970s. This is the date of his death. (See artwork for month
of November.)
Defenders of the Motherland Day : Russia.
On this day, Russia honors those who
are serving in the Armed Forces and those who have served in the past.
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February 24, Wednesday
Flag Day : Mexico.
Public holiday.
Independence Day : Estonia.
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February 25, Thursday
Enrico Caruso (1873–1931) : Italian American.
Opera singer. The most acclaimed operatic
tenor of his time, Caruso was also the first great singer whose voice is
preserved in recordings.
José de San Martín (1778–1850) : Argentine.
Soldier and statesman. With Simón Bolívar,
San Martín led the movement of Spain’s South American colonies to win their
freedom from Spain. In 1811 he resigned from the Spanish army to organize
the armed resistance to Spanish rule in the land of his birth, modern-day
Argentina. He raised an army there and led it over the Andes to Chile, taking
Santiago in 1817, and then organized a Chilean navy to transport the rebel
army to Lima. There he proclaimed the establishment of a new country on
July 28, 1821. Although he was made leader of the new nation, he came into
political conflict with Bolívar and retired to France. The anniversary of
his death is observed as a national holiday on the third Monday in August.
(See entry for Death of General José de San Martín
observed.)
National Day (2/25-2/26) : Kuwait.
Also observed on February 26, this two-day
holiday marks the successful pushing back of Iraqi troops from Kuwait during
the Gulf War in 1991.
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February 26, Friday
Intercalary Days (2/26-3/1) : Baha'i.
The days from February 26 to March 1
adjust the Baha'i year, which consists of 19 months with 19 days each month,
to the solar calendar. These days are observed with gift-giving, special
acts of charity, and preparation for fasting that precedes the new year.
(See discussion under Holidays and
Work Schedules.)
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Maulid an-Nabi (Prophet Muhammad's Birthday)
: Islamic. |
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February 27, Saturday
Independence Day : Dominican Republic.
This day commemorates the retreat in
1844 of the Haitians who had controlled the country.
February | Alpha Index | Subject Index | Public Holidays by Country | Home
February 28, Sunday
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Lantern Festival (Yuan-hsiao) : China.
|
The Lantern Festival at the Chinese gardens is a yearly affair when all the best
and biggest
lanterns are displayed in the garden's premise. In 2007, the theme was "Wonders of the World."
The song playing in the background is Bǎ Gēn liú Zhù (Keeping the Roots).
Taeborum (tay-bore-oom) : South Korea.
Taeborum is the day of the first full
moon of the Korean lunar year, marking the end of the traditional New Year's
holiday season and the beginning of the agricultural cycle. The holiday
is celebrated with a folk festival, Jishin Balpgi, when people bang
loudly on drums and gongs to drive away the evil spirits of the old year
and to usher in peace, health, and prosperity for the coming year. In the
evening, everyone gathers at the center of the village to revel under the
first full moon.
Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Nuts of various kinds, particularly peanuts, walnuts, and pine nuts, can be given as a gift. According to a traditional custom, upon arising early in the morning, people must eat as many nuts as their age. (m)
Butter Sculpture Festival : Tibet.
Also known as the Butter Lamp Festival, this
holiday is celebrated on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first month
of the Tibetan lunar year. It is part of Monlam Chenmo, the Great
Prayer Festival of Tibetan Buddhism held after the New Year. People make
pilgrimages to the monastery in Kumbum to witness a spectacular display
of sculptures, all hand-sculpted from yak butter by the monks and painted
in vibrant colors, depicting Buddhist deities, events from the stories of
Sakyamuni's previous births, and various events in Tibetan folklore and
religious history. These exquisite butter sculptures, some of which are
thirty feet high, are illuminated on this special night by hundreds of butter
lamps. As ephemeral as they are beautiful, all of the sculptures will be
destroyed by the monks before dawn, a reminder of the Buddhist belief in
the impermanence of all things. (m)
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Holi (2/28-3/1) : Hindu.
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Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Hindus do not eat meat or drink alcoholic beverages. Most are strict vegetarians. “God bless you with prosperity and happiness” or “I wish you happiness and prosperity” are appropriate greetings for all Hindu holidays. (m)
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Purim (Feast of Lots) : Jewish.
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Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: The traditional
food, homentashen, is available at most bakeries. “Happy Purim” or
simply “Happy Holiday” are appropriate greetings. (m)
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